4 Ways To Reduce Healthcare Employee Attrition

Healthcare burnout is at an all-time high while employee morale is at an all-time low. Hospital staff turnover is reaching new heights. In this article, we examine the reasons why and share our tips for stopping burnout in its tracks.

Healthcare worker attrition has emerged as a new silent epidemic, draining hospitals of both critical resources and expertise. Staffing tops the list of healthcare industry challenges; it’s their number-one business problem but, more importantly, it’s an innately human problem as people’s lives are at stake. 

The statistics paint a grim picture: hospitals average 105% registered nurse (RN) staff turnover every five years, which equates to approximately $7 million yearly for the average hospital. And close to a third of all RNs leave within 12 months. 

That’s 20% attrition (or one in five employees) every single year, and a whole new organization every five years – all new healthcare specialists, management, and frontline staff. 

High employee attrition is also a burden on finances and resources. Attribution costs include the expenses of recruiting, hiring, and training new medical practitioners, as well as the cost of temporarily filling staffing gaps with expensive contract workers or travel nurses. 

Productivity inevitably drops as managers shift their attention to hiring and onboarding instead of patient care. A less quantifiable – but still significant – cost is lower employee morale, as those who remain work harder and longer to fill gaps for less pay than contract workers hired to provide temporary coverage. 

So why are nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals leaving the field? And more importantly, what can we do to retain them?

Let’s talk about just that.

Why do healthcare workers leave their jobs?

Demanding schedules 

Healthcare jobs are notorious for long hours and unpredictable schedules. Most are considered frontline or essential worker jobs, meaning workers spend much of their time on their feet in fast-paced work environments. In fact, it’s estimated that nurses in hospitals walk about five miles a day. According to a survey by Vivian, a healthcare hiring platform, 57% of respondents said their unit was adequately staffed less than 75% of the time. 

Too much admin

On TV, doctors and nurses are shown standing by a patient’s bedside and providing hands-on care. In reality, nurses, doctors, and specialist practitioners no longer have the time to do this. Instead, they’re buried in documentation, billing, charting, protocol checklists, and other cumbersome administration. 

In 2021, doctors reported spending 16 hours per week on average on paperwork, while first-year medical residents spend only 10% of their work time face-to-face with patients.

Exhausting workloads

Even before the pandemic, the National Academy of Medicine found that burnout had reached “crisis levels” among the US health workforce, with 35% to 54% of nurses and physicians and 45% to 60% of medical students and residents reporting symptoms of burnout. According to a report in Vatornews, among clinicians who reported burnout, 69% said they didn’t feel valued.

Disconnect from colleagues 

Healthcare workers who don’t work in a single location, such as travel nurses, medical assistants, and specialized physicians and surgeons, may miss out on opportunities to build lasting relationships with managers and colleagues. Cut off from these critical personal connections, they can feel underappreciated and unseen, which makes it more likely they’ll look for a job somewhere else.

The unappreciated, unsung hero

Healthcare workers are the unsung heroes tirelessly navigating the frontlines of patient care. Their monumental contributions often go unappreciated, overshadowed by the urgency of their tasks. The relentless demands of the industry, coupled with limited to no recognition, perpetuate a sense of feeling undervalued. This takes a massive toll on morale and motivation, driving many healthcare professionals toward the brink of burnout.

Emotional exhaustion 

Day in and day out, healthcare workers confront the raw emotions of patients and their families, grappling with pain, suffering, and loss. The weight of these experiences, compounded by the relentless pace of the healthcare environment, depletes their emotional tank. 

Healthcare workers easily find themselves drained and struggling to find motivation to keep going. This emotional toll not only affects their own wellbeing, but also compromises their ability to provide the compassionate care that patients so desperately need.

The cost of healthcare employee attrition

Staff shortage costs 

According to the AMA, the cumulative cost of worker turnover and reduced clinical hours due to physician burnout in the US amounts to a staggering $4.6 billion annually. For hospitals, replacing a single healthcare worker costs a whopping 150% of their salary. This financial strain is further exacerbated by a skyrocketing RN vacancy rate of 16%. 

The US healthcare industry loses about 500,000 employees every month, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and those left behind are dispirited about the future. Nearly three-quarters of healthcare employees surveyed in one study said workplace morale had gotten worse over the previous 12 months, and only 20% felt optimistic about the future of healthcare in the US. 

Hiring and training costs  

It costs an employer an average of between six and nine months of an employee’s annual salary to replace them, and it can cost as much as 200% of the employee’s annual pay to replace a specialized healthcare professional. 

Training costs are also hefty. The healthcare industry has mandatory training and certification requirements that don’t exist in other industries. Unfortunately, many healthcare employees don’t feel they’re getting the right skills training for their rapidly changing roles, and managers and healthcare HR teams struggle to track and enforce training requirements.

Temp worker premium costs 

Understaffed healthcare organizations often resort to hiring expensive travel or contract staff to fill workforce gaps. Unfamiliar with a facility’s policies, staff, and even its geography, contract workers can reduce overall productivity and burden full-time employees. 

Employee morale costs

The fact that nearly seven in 10 clinicians do not feel valued for the work they provide is nothing short of disturbing, and healthcare systems should work tirelessly to be strong advocates of their own employees. Building a culture of appreciation means ensuring healthcare employees get adequate paid time off, for example, with the ability to actually use that PTO when requested. 

Patient experience costs  

The impact on patient experience is profound. Nursing homes with higher attrition rates are cited more frequently for resident abuse, while those with elevated staff turnover perform worse on all Five-Star Quality Measures (CMS, 2022). It's clear: the retention crisis isn't just a staffing issue; it's a threat to patient safety and wellbeing.

The healthcare sector grapples with a paradox: despite improving wages and worker flexibility, healthcare professionals continue to exit the field at alarming rates. What’s clear is that healthcare is a purpose-driven profession and these workers – from the office to the bedside – seek more than just pay. They seek a true sense of purpose, belonging, and recognition. 

Addressing this fundamental need is not just a matter of retention, but a quest to foster a motivated, high-performing workforce dedicated to delivering exceptional patient care.

Four ways to reduce healthcare employee attrition 

1. Fostering a culture of appreciation

Fostering a culture of appreciation can be achieved by implementing formal recognition programs, such as monthly awards or shoutouts in staff meetings. These programs empower employees to nominate peers for recognition, while personal and public kudos from senior team members show that they’re leading by example.

Employee appreciation events, like staff luncheons, offer opportunities for community building. Peer-to-peer recognition initiatives, such as values and goals alignment awards, foster camaraderie.

Additionally, investing in medical professional development and growth reinforces the message that employees’ presence on the team is valued, ultimately creating a culture where they feel appreciated, motivated, and committed to doing their best work.

2. Clear communication from the top down, open communication from peer to peer

When hospital admin and leadership communicate openly and transparently with staff, it builds a sense of trust, understanding, and alignment with organizational goals.

Employees feel valued and respected when they receive clear guidance, expectations, and feedback from leadership, which can help mitigate feelings of disconnect and being undervalued.

Additionally, clear communication ensures teams are aware of recognition programs, appreciation events, and professional development opportunities, further reinforcing their sense of worth and contribution to the organization.

3. Automate administrative tasks, focus on patient care

Alleviate the burden of repetitive and time-consuming admin tasks on staff members.

By implementing automation for processes such as scheduling, charting, data entry, and documentation, healthcare professionals can focus more on patient care and less on paperwork.

Additionally, automating administrative tasks can help hospitals optimize staffing levels and allocate resources more effectively, further enhancing the overall quality of employee experience and, ultimately, patient care.

4. Improve your technology

The stress of logging long hours in challenging situations is compounded by having to use inflexible, out-of-date, and disparate systems.

An employee experience platform, on the other hand, empowers healthcare institutions to orchestrate their employee experience seamlessly. This applies to every facet of an employee’s journey, from recruitment and onboarding, through daily operations, all the way to eventual offboarding or transition.

Fulfilling the purpose paradigm with Workvivo

Workvivo reignites purpose-driven workplace experiences for healthcare employees. 

Its consumer-grade usability caters to the entire team, regardless of their tech savviness. It brings practitioners, frontline workers, and administrators together under one digital roof, serving as their hub for connection, collaboration, and community.

Consider the myriad use cases: from facilitating feedback and idea sharing to promoting staff wellbeing through wellness challenges and industry-related awareness days. Workvivo serves as a lifeline during crisis communication and emergency response, ensuring timely dissemination of critical information to all employees.

Moreover, Workvivo fosters a culture of collaboration and innovation by sharing best practices and lessons learned, empowering frontline workers with continuing medical education and training opportunities, and engaging volunteers and community partners to support the healthcare mission.

A digital hub for purpose-driven institutions

Workvivo isn't just a communication tool; it's the digital heartbeat of healthcare organizations, pulsing with life-saving stories, medical knowledge sharing, and community-driven engagement. It breaks down language barriers with automatic translations, promotes safety and wellbeing through secure crisis communication channels, and optimizes healthcare administration by streamlining documentation and administrative tasks.

With robust security and compliance measures, including HIPAA compliance, Workvivo provides a safe and secure platform for healthcare communication and data sharing. Its flexible integration with existing healthcare systems simplifies the digital transformation journey, while powerful analytics tools offer data-driven insights into employee engagement and communication effectiveness.

Elevating patient care through purpose

Ultimately, Workvivo is more than just a software solution; it's a catalyst for change, reigniting purpose-driven healthcare employee experiences and fostering a culture of connection, collaboration, and care. By nurturing the sense of fulfillment that healthcare professionals seek, Workvivo not only retains talent but enhances patient care and staff satisfaction.

With Workvivo, envision a world where every interaction matters, every voice is heard, and every life is valued. 

Let's build a healthier future together, one connection at a time.